Is Google Wave Just a Glorified Chat Room?

photo credit: donjd2

I overheard this hypothetical conversation at Google HQ:

Developer: I have a new product idea. Imagine an online tool for real-time communication between groups of people!

Colleague: You mean a CHAT ROOM, a technology that’s been in use for over 20 years?

Developer: Yes but now imagine mashing in more features like embedable Youtube videos!

Colleague: So it’s a bloated chat room?

Developer: That’s right. Except that we won’t call it a chat room. We’ll call it a WAVE_-_-__ and pass it off as an entirely new concept that’s going to revolutionize the world!

Colleague: A bloated and glorified chat room.  Brilliant!

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Google Maps NYC Subway Map could be better

Google Maps has had a “Transit” layer for some time and it used to be empty for New York City.  Not surprisingly, they’ve recently added the NYC subway map illustrating where the different lines run.  It works on maps.google.com as well as Google Maps Mobile on your phone (read about it here).

I’ve been using the subway map from onnyturf.com/subway for years and while that is basically the same thing, a NYC subway map layered over Google Maps, there are some differences. Below I’ve included a comparison of each map showing an identical area around times square.